Urban Design: An

Overview
 Urban Design
• The concept of urban design has emerged as a bridge
between planning and design in response to need for
management of modernizing cities in the 1950s.
• No commonly agreed definition due to its interdisciplinary
character.
• Many viewpoints but traditionally has been regarded either
as a subset of planning or as an extension of architecture
• It can be roughly defined as the art of creating and giving
form to the urban environments; involves many
stakeholders whose interests and priorities may conflict
and the physical product of urban design should serve the
community’s needs and expectations with its social,
cultural, economic and environmental outcomes
 Urban Design
• The definition makes urban design a highly complex
phenomenon; as a result can and should not be limited
to physical design.
• 7 areas of ambiguity:
o URBAN and DESIGN
o DESIGN is much about problem solving and/or the processes of delivering or
organizing development
• 1. Scales or level – focus
• 2. Visual qualities or organization and management of urban spaces
• 3. Spatial arrangement or cultural relations between spaces and society
• 4. Expertise claim
• Public or private led activity
• Science (objective-rational) or Art (expressive-subjective)
• Product or Process
 Module 1
• Module 1 explores urban design in the context of its scope, general
considerations, historical background and ambiguities to unify the learners’
common understanding.

• Students are presumed to have a working knowledge of what urban design is

about but would be directed towards a common understanding on the matter
as a science and an art; a profession and a key aspect in development
planning.

• READ Lesson 1.1.: Towards Understanding of Urban Design

Urban Design and
Urban Life Quality
“Urban design intends to improve the quality of
people’s lives through design”
“The discipline of urban design is concerned with notions of the
‘good city’” – University of California, Berkeley; Urban Design: City Building and Place-Making
• It is concerned with how urban environments work for people and support human needs, how
physical designs may facilitate or hinder human behavior, how cities look, and what cities
mean.
• It is concerned foremost with environmental quality, measured in many ways but practically
in terms of access, connectivity, comfort, legibility, and sense of place.
• Urban design is strongly linked to quality of life (QoL). No universally accepted definition like
urban design.
• “Notion of human welfare (well-being) measured by social indicators rather than by
“quantitative” measures of income and production. (UNCED, 1997)
• “an individual perception of their position in life in the context of their culture and value
systems in which they live in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.
(WHO, 1996)
Two (2) Basic Concepts related to Urban Life Quality (ULQ)
• LIVABILITY : determined by physical
environment as well as social
environment conditions
• ULQ is a result of 2 kinds of input:
• Physical/Objective
• Psychological/Subjective
• Situation Assessment BEFORE
identifying urban quality in urban
design to determine the priorities
(finance and cost) and deficiencies
in urban development strategies
and policies.
• Livability principles are strongly related to
SUSTAINABILITY.
• UNCED and Agenda 21 action plan’s
four
(4) main sections:
• Social and economic
• Conservation/Management of resources
for development
• Strengthening roles of major groups
• Means of implementation which include
policies for SD
• Emphasize the importance of local
participation in decision making and
implementation processes.
 • Local participation is necessary to choices to decrease household
find out psychological/subjective transportation costs, reduce
indicators for ULQ. dependence on foreign oil,
improve air quality, reduce
Six (6) Livability greenhouse gas emissions, and
promote public
Principles 2. Promote equitable, affordable housing

1. Provide more • Expand location-and energy efficient

housing choices for people of all
transportation choices
ages, incomes, races, and ethnicities
• Develop safe, reliable and to increase mobility and lower the
economical transportation combined cost of housing and
transportation.

health.
Six (6) Livability Principles
3. Enhance economic
competitiveness
• Improve economic competitiveness
through reliable and timely access to
employment centers, educational
opportunities, services and other basic
needs by workers, as well as expanded
business access to markets.

4. Support existing communities

• Target funding toward existing
communities – through strategies like
TOD, mixed-use development, and land
recycling – to increase community
revitalization and the efficiency of
public works investments and safeguard
rural landscapes

Six (6) Livability
Principles
5. Coordinate and leverage
policies and investment
• Align policies and funding to
remove barriers to collaboration,
leverage funding, and increase the
accountability and
effectiveness of
6. Value communities and
neighborhoods
• Enhance the unique characteristics
of all communities by investing in
healthy, safe, and walkable
neighborhoods – rural, urban, or
 all levels of government to plan for suburban.
future growth, including making
smart energy choices such as locally
generated renewable energy,
The dynamics and rhythm of urban life decreases the Life Quality
• Fast paces and exhausting urban
lifestyles.
• Although cities are the hearts of
economic growth and cultural
diversity, citizens might experience • Cities are densely built and
difficulties in enjoying the amenities populated environments cause “lost
of a city in context of time and space.
 in space” feeling. support peoples activities within the
public realm.

• People need places where they can

escape the stressful rhythm of urban
life.
• This is were urban design takes part;
design of public spaces (open and green
spaces) to provide livable and accessible
urban environments, as well as to
 TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF

uRBaN DeSIGn
(An Introductory Lecture for AR 413A and
421S2)

Eduardo F. Bober, Jr.

Industry Lecturer
According to your Understanding of Urban
Design:
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
• UD is a design outside of the
bldg/property.
• UD is complicated, a theoretical aspect
• UD prioritizes/harmonizes with nature
• UD is a about cities–helps people to live
an easy life
• UD is Urban Planning
• UD is planning the whole site, large area
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
• UD is architecture & a reflection of the
buildings.
• UD is making the city more beautiful &
attractive
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
• It was coined in North
America in the late 1950’s
• Replaced the narrower
and outmoded term
“civic design” – focus on the
siting and design of civic buildings
–
and their relationship to open spaces.
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
• It denotes a more expansive approach -
evolving from an initial, predominantly aesthetic,
concern with the distribution of building masses
and the space between buildings.
• it has become primarily concerned with the
quality of the public realm (public space, public
environment or public domain - both physical
and socio-cultural - and the making of places
for people to enjoy and use.
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
Public Spaces
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
• The term “urban design” is ambiguous –
containing two somewhat problematical words:
URBAN – suggests the characteristics of towns and
cities DESIGN – refers to activities as sketching,
planning, arranging and pattern making.
• Within the practice of urban design, URBAN has a
wide and inclusive meaning embracing not only the
city and town but also the village and hamlet.
DESIGN, rather than having a narrowly aesthetic
interpretation, is as much about effective problem
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
solving and/or the processes of delivering or
organizing development.

7 Areas of Ambiguity

1. Should urban design be focused at

particular scales or levels?
2. Should it focus only on the visual
qualities of the urban environment
or, more broadly, address the
organization and management of
urban space?
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
3. Should it simply be about transforming spatial
arrangements, or about more deeply seated social and
cultural relations between spaces and society?

PRODUCT
7 Areas of Ambiguity

4. Should urban design be the province of Architects,

planners or landscape architects?
5. Should it be a public or
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
private sector activity?
PROCESS
6. Should it be seen as an objective-
rational process
(a science) or an expressive-
subjective process (an art)?
7 Areas of Ambiguity

7. Should the focus of

Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design

urban design be its ?

product (the urban
environment) or the process
by which it is produced?
Towards an Understanding
of Urban Design
PRODUCT -PROCESS
DILEMMA
Urban Design is both As a a product
and a process PRODUCT
• Ranges in scale from parts of an environment
• Manifests in all aspects of the physical
environment
• Involves what the place looks like, how it feels,
what it means, how it works for people who use it
Concerns sensory and cognitive relationships
between people and their environment, with
 how people’s needs, values, and aspirations can
best be accommodated in built forms.
Urban Design is both As a a product
and a process PROCESS
• Involves the art of shaping the built landscape
which has been formed over time by many
different actors.
• Tasks may have definite ends or be ongoing.
Implementation may or may not be under the
designer’s whole or partial control
• Concerns with design ideas and possibilities, with
community choices and decisions, and with the
urban development process
It has to do with the processes for shaping
environments and with the experiential quality of
the physical forms and spaces that result.
What then is Urban
Design?
• Falls between the profession of planning and
architecture
• Concerns in particular the shaping and uses of
urban public spaces
• Deals with the large scale organization and
design of the city, with the massing and
organization of buildings and space between
them, but not with the design of the individual
buildings

Distinguishing Factors
ARCHITECTURE URBAN DESIGN URBAN PLANNING
Single Building/Complexes Large scale such as entire Typically considers the entire city.
neighborhoods or cities
1, 2, 3 or 5 years Long time frames 10-15 Can extend beyond 30 years
years
Specific Development Control Less direct control Even less direct control

Deals only with the Deals with large number of Deals with interconnectedness.
functional requirements of variables: transportation, Look beyond the bounds of the
buildings and how it satisfies identity, pedestrian city and understand how the
users’ needs orientation, etc city. Allocates land uses among
competing functions
Employed by Employed by developers on Involved in political process where
individual/developers variety of projects and also by public policy is formulated.
public bodies
Involved with only with Involved with a spectrum Involved with a spectrum of
physical design issues of social, cultural and social, cultural and physical
physical design issues design issues
Traditions of Thought
in Urban Design
The Visual-Artistic
Tradition
• More ‘architectural’ and
narrower understanding of urban
design
• Predominantly ‘product-
oriented’, focused on the visual
qualities and aesthetic
experience of urban spaces
rather than on the cultural,
social, economic, political and
Traditions of Thought
in Urban Design
spatial factors and processes contributing to successful
urban places.
• Largely failed to acknowledge public perceptions of
townscapes and places.
The Social-Usage
Tradition
Paths
• Emphasized the way in which Districts people
use and colonize space
Traditions of Thought
in Urban Design
• Encompassed issues of Landmarks Nodes
perception and sense of place.
• Kevin Lynch's attempted to
shift the focus of urban design
in two ways:
– In terms of appreciation of the
urban environment
– In terms of the object of the
study
 Traditions of Thought
in Urban Design
The Social-Usage

Traditio
n • Jane Jacobs – also a key proponent in her book:
The Death and Life of Great
American Cities arguing that the
city could never be a work of art
because art was made by
'selection from life', while a city
was 'life at its most vital, complex
and intense’
• Concentrating on the
sociofunctional aspects of streets,
sidewalks and parks, Jacobs’
Traditions of Thought
in Urban Design
emphasized their role as containers of human activity and
places of social interaction.
Traditions of Thought The Making Places in Urban
Design Tradition
• From the synthesis of earlier well the
traditions, urban design is physical milieu
simultaneously concerned with supports the
the design of urban space as functions and
an aesthetic entity and as a activities taking
behavioral setting. place there.
• It focuses on the diversity With this concept
comes the notion of
and activity which help to urban design as the
create design and
successful urban places, management of the
and, in particular, on how 'public realm' - defined
Traditions of Thought The Making Places in Urban
Design Tradition
as the public face of buildings, the - Continuity and
spaces between
frontages, · the activities taking place in
Enclosure
and between these spaces, and the - Quality of the
managing of these activities, all of Public Realm
which are affected by the uses. of the
buildings themselves, i .e. - Ease of
the 'private realm' Movement
Seven (7 ) Objectives of UD - Legibility
relating to ‘Concept of - Adaptability
Place’ : - Diversity
- Character
Traditions of Thought The Making Places in Urban
Design Tradition
…the relationship between different complex relationships
buildings; the between all the
relationship between buildings and the elements of built and
streets, un-built space.
squares, parks and other spaces which 7 Objectives of UD
make up
the public domain itself; the relating to
relationship of one ‘Concept of Place’ :
part of a village, town or city with the
Character – a place
other
parts; and the patterns of movement with its own identity
and activity Continuity &
which are thereby established. In short, Enclosure – a
the place where public
Traditions of Thought The Making Places in Urban
Design Tradition
& private spaces are clearly Adaptabilit
distinguished y – a place
Quality of the Public Realm – a that can
place with attractive & successful change
outdoor areas easily
Ease of Movement – a place Diversity –
that is easy to get to and move a place
through with variety
and choice
Legibility – a place that has a
clear image and is easy to
understand
General Considerations
in Urban Design
 Urban Structure – how a
place is put together and
how its part relate to its
other.
 Urban typology, density
and sustainability -
spatial types and
morphologies related to
intensity of use,
consumption of
resources and production
General Considerations
in Urban Design
and maintenance of
viable communities.

 Accessibility–
providing for ease,
safety and choice
when moving to and
through places
 Legibility and way
finding - helping
General Considerations
in Urban Design
people to find their
way around and
understand how a
place works.

 Animation–
designing places to
stimulate public
activity
General Considerations
in Urban Design
 Function & Fit-
shaping places to
support their varied
intended use

 Complementary
Mixed
Uses– locating
activities to allow
General Considerations
in Urban Design
constructive
interaction between
them
 Character and
Meaning -
recognizing & valuing
the differences
between one place
and another
General Considerations
in Urban Design
 Order & Incident –
balancing consistency
and variety in the
urban environment in
the interests of
appreciating both
 Continuity and
Change - locating
people in time and
place, including
General Considerations
in Urban Design
respect for heritage
and support of
contemporary culture
 Contemporary Definition of
UD in place-making
Urban design involves place-making - the creation
of a setting that imparts a sense of place to an
area.
 This process is achieved by establishing
identifiable neighborhoods, unique architecture,
aesthetically pleasing public places and vistas,
identifiable landmarks and focal points, and a
human element established by compatible scales
of development and ongoing public stewardship.
 Key elements of place-making include: lively
commercial centers, mixed-use development with
ground-floor retail uses, human-scale and context-
sensitive design; safe and attractive public areas;
image-making; and decorative elements in the
public realm.

Synthesis Lewis Mumford, The

Culture of Cities (1938)
“Mind takes form in the city; and in turn, urban forms
condition mind. For space, no less than time, is artfully
reorganized in cities: in boundary lines and silhouettes,
in the fixing of horizontal planes and vertical peaks, in
 utilizing or denying the natural site, the city records
the attitude of a culture and an epoch to the
fundamental facts of its existence. The dome and the
spire, the open avenue and the closed court, tell the
story not merely of the different physical
accommodations, but of essentially different
conceptions of man’s destiny…With language itself, it
remains man’s greatest work of art.”
Sources and References
• M. Carmona, T. Heath, T. Oc, S. Tiesdell (2003). Public
Places,
Urban Spaces: The Dimensions of Urban Design.
Architectural Press, Oxford
• Levy, John M (2009), Contemporary Urban Planning, 8th
Edition, Prentice Hall, Pearson Educational Institute, Upper
Saddle River, NJ, USA
• Various internet sources: http://www.urbandesign.org/
• M. Roberts, C. Greed (2001). Approaching Urban Design: The
Design Process. Pearson Education Ltd., England.

Activity for this week

READ (REQUIRED Reading 1) the short essay of Jane
Jacobs entitled: “The Uses of Sidewalks: Safety”.
Mark the characteristics of sidewalks that the author
identified as factors that make a certain sidewalk
“safe”.
Identify a community or a street in your neighborhood
in which people feel safe. List down the (physical and
social) characteristics of that street that you think
make people safe.
Refer to activity guide 1 and lesson 2 for other
requirements.
INTRODUCTION
This page introduces the notion of a 'method framework' for urban design, drawing on the idea, set out in the preceding
topic, of design as a cyclic-process involving analysis and synthesis, or composition. This is to present a guide rather than
a formula that can be rigidly applied to any situation. 
 
LEARNING CONTENT
Artistic inspiration versus 'Geddesian' analysis
To those unfamiliar with the process, design is rather mysterious, driven by artistic inspiration and primarily concerned with
visual artistic rather than practical purpose. This view of design as inspiration is also shared by many designers who see
themselves as (sometimes actually are) gifted artists. Are you one of them? In urban design, this view is represented in the
'beaux arts' approach, where the stress is on the beautifying the city through grand and often formal street layouts and
landscaping interventions. A similar motivation underlies the 'big architecture' approach to urban design, where it is the
visual and spatial impact of the large-scale development, as a 'statement' of the individual architect, that is seen to count. 
Remember the 'traditions of thought' of urban design in our previous module specifically the one discussed in the topic
'Towards Understanding Urban Design',? This particular notion falls in the visual artistic tradition. 
Design as a problem-solving activity
The contrary view is of design as a problem-solving activity, concerned with the issue of spatial organization to meet
functional needs. This approach has its roots in the engineering outlook of the 19th century, with its railways, bridges,
buildings and new structures of concrete, iron and glass. In town planning, the city was also seen in engineering terms,
with increasing problems of public health and traffic circulation addressed by planning new urban infrastructures and and
garden cities. Out of this movement emerged the idea of 'functionalism' or 'form follows function'. The functionalist
approach suggests that if we analyze the problems that the design sets out to address in sufficient detail and in scientific
manner, a spatial solution will emerge from this analysis or 'program'. It suggests that design is a linear process, which if
carried out with sufficient rigor, will lead to a single optimum solution. 
On the surface, there are parallels between this functionalism in the modernist architecture and the 'civic' diagnosis of the
turn-of-century Scottish biologist and urban theorist, Patrick Geddes - his notion of 'survey-analyze-design (plan)'. Many
of the modernist architects and planners wished to build the modern city anew according to the strict functionalist
principles, ignoring the past. Geddes however, was concerned with learning from history and with understanding the
organic and gradually evolving form of the city and the life of its inhabitants. The 'program' part of Geddes' formula
- 'survey and analyze' - sets out to provide a rational framework for understanding the issues that a particular plan
seeks to address. This is achieved through a careful 'reading' of the urban context within which a particular intervention is
to be made. Each situation requires, alongside a statement of the current economic and social issues to be addressed, an
understanding of the particular cultural circumstances in terms of the history of the urban fabric and the lives and life-styles
of the people. With its stress on sensitivity to the urban context, this approach provides the basis for much contemporary
urban design. 
The urban design cycle and the importance of types
Taken one way, the Geddesian approach suggests that the collection of sufficient data and its careful analysis will yield a
rational solution to a particular set of urban problems. The scientific planning tradition follows this -view, i.e. that the
solution to any particular planning problem lies in gathering sufficient data. However, it is clear that design does not work in
this way and that no amount of information and data analysis will cause a spatial plan or design to emerge of its own
accord; rather, urban design follows a cycle. Information is gathered, and concepts are formulated and evaluated against
the knowledge that has been accumulated. This suggests where additional information is needed, how it can be structured,
where a design concept can be modified or how a new idea can take shape. Any particular urban design development can
involve a number of such cycles of analysis, synthesis or composition and evaluation. Design also does seem to require
leaps of the imagination to proceed. However, there is much that the student unfamiliar with design can do to help
the imagination on its way, including following some of the principles set out here. If not from analysis, where do design
ideas come from? Is it an entirely subjective matter? While it is true that much Of the 'brain-work' that goes on between
design analysis and solution is unconscious. few designs are entirely unique, Most solutions to a particular set of problems
can be divided up into 'families' that share common features. This suggests that design concepts are shaped by drawing
on pre-existing forms or precedents. A clue to what these might be is the idea of urban types — buildings. spaces,
infrastructure — introduced as one of the basic 'generators of urban form. In the design process, it seems likely that we
draw on a library of such prototypes or precedents, built up from our experience, learning and memory, combining them in
various ways and testing them against the evolving brief. The element of invention and creativity in the way that such types
are combined and developed always allows for original designs and new urban types to emerge. 
Design as a rational and experimental process
The design process is rational and experimental rather than simply inspirational. It works through a process of deduction
rather than induction, where a design solution is an early hypothesis to be tested, drawing on pre-existing models, rather
than the end-point of the long accumulation of facts. To map out an urban design solution requires analyzing and
simplifying the problems to be addressed. This process of simplification and abstraction is necessary before the designer
is able to give a physical shape to a solution. With too much detail, this is simply not possible. The aim is to clarify priorities
and make explicit future scenarios, dealing with such questions as: 
• What are the most important factors? How are these measured and weighted? 
• Where there are conflicting requirements, are compromises possible? If not. which requirement takes priority? 
• What assumptions are being made about the future situation in which an urban design policy or plan is being
implemented? 
Since design is a matter of prioritization and assumption, every solution will be better at dealing with some issues and
worse at dealing with others. More efficient design solutions can often be achieved through modifications, but
improvements in one area are often coupled with compromises elsewhere. This is a matter of experimentation and
students that are new to it will discover design to be an open-ended and time-consuming process. 
A framework for the urban design process 
To summarize, the urban design in the framework presented here involves a cyclic process of analysis—composition—
evaluation. It is an attempt to reconcile factors that relate to client or user needs, factors that relate to the site or area
under study and its context, factors that relate to the constraints of planning policy and local planning regulations. It
involves understanding the problems that are to be addressed and refining, abstracting and prioritizing the essential
issues. In the process of analysis and synthesis or composition, urban types, drawn from the influence of experience or
practice, are used to organize information and to shape out a solution. 
The particular influences, which techniques are used and how they are combined reflect the preferences and design of the
urban designer or design team. This is a fourth factor in the urban design process. It involves issues of aesthetics and of
symbolic and cultural expression on which there is a considerable amount of literature for the interested student.
Defining and analyzing the problem
Design involves prioritizing and reconciling often conflicting aims and objectives and arriving at a strategy or solution that
addresses a multitude of different factor. Part of the problem to be addressed will be set out in the statement of client or
user requirements that will form part of the commissioning brief for an urban designer in practice, or be described in the
project brief in a student urban design exercise. Other requirements will emerge in the collection and analysis of data in
the initial phase of the urban design process. Some of these will relate to the site and its context, or the area under study,
and emerge in the process of urban analysis. Others will relate to constraints of planning policy and local planning
regulations. Yet other factors that will shape the design process relate to the design philosophy or approach being used to
shape particular urban design solutions. These will often operate at an unconscious level, an implicit rather than explicit
element of the urban design process.
Study area appraisal and surveys 
Whether the area that is the object of an urban design study is a development site or a larger district, city quarter
or neighborhood, determining the particular physical and social characteristics of the study area is an essential starting
point for the urban design process. How an urban design appraisal is used in local area urban design studies is described
in the next module. This offers reflections on the appraisal process in practice and a framework for incorporating the
appraisal in the larger design process. The appraisal may be viewed as a two-stage process — survey and analysis —
although in  practice there is considerable overlap.
The survey involves a visual inspection of the study area and the collection of material in the form of annotated maps,
written notes, photographs or videos and sketches. These primary data are supplemented with material from other
sources: local authority development plans (CLUP), historical plans and literature on the history of the area, socio-
economic surveys, estate agents surveys and so forth. Ideally. students should carry out questionnaire surveys of local
residents or users, or interview representative stakeholders. In the scope of the average student project, there is unlikely to
be time to carry out surveys in this amount of detail.  The next module will concentrate on short-cut techniques that allow
students to carry out a rapid appraisal of urban form and activity. Additionally, the appraisal stage of an urban design
project is most efficiently carried out in teams (collaboration), with the different tasks being shared out so that more
information can be gathered and processed.
Site planning and the need for context studies 
Any site planning exercise should involve a wider appraisal of the urban context in which the site is located. The scale of
this exercise depends on the limited time and resources available, but it is important to get some measure of the urban
context within which an intervention is being proposed. The scope of a context study depends on how the context is
spatially defined. Generally, it is useful to define a series of concentric areas around the site of a proposed development,
so that the site can be viewed in its city-wide, district and local context. The next module provides a practical example of
how to carry out an area appraisal under defined criteria.
Study area analysis (Links to an external site.)
The study area analysis forms the basis of the first level of analysis, which after the survey forms the second part of the
appraisal and is described in the next module. In practice, much of the basic, unprocessed survey data can be sifted and
mapped as part of the contextual analysis, skipping one step in the process. Whether information is mapped in one or two
stages depends of the type of notation that is developed for the purpose. Sometimes it is better to have one type of
notation to record information and another to carry' out an analysis.
The design process
The next module outlines the rapid area appraisal using simple freehand analytical diagrams and drawings. There are
other more sophisticated, though less often used, techniques for which computers are either -useful or essential, examples
of which are as follows:

 Spatial structure analysis: graph theory and space syntax (see Hillier and Hanson 1984).
 Network analysis: modelling of transport/vehicular links and flows.
 Computer analysis: standard Geographical Information Systems computer applications rely on comprehensive
data collection and entry, and are generally more useful at the larger planning scale for identifying area features
through 'sieving' or 'hot-spotting' process.

A common feature of the techniques of urban form and activity analysis is their ability to abstract essential factors which
are important in developing clear spatial strategies. Unlike the hard-edged and more rigorous scientific analytical methods
listed here, they also incorporate a degree of 'fuzziness' which can be useful in allowing the necessary flexibility in
developing spatial solutions. What this type of analysis provides is clear cues and clues from which development strategies
can be shaped. 
 
Developing a rationale 
Following on from the context or study area appraisal is a second level of analysis which, generalizes and abstracts from
the first. 
Summary analysis, opportunities and constraints diagrams The most important features of each of the separate analytical
studies are summarized in a summary analysis diagram (or diagrams). From this summary can be drawn the main
opportunities for development and improvement that the area offers and likely constraints on development. Where
possible, opportunities and constraints should be mapped as a diagram. Sometimes opportunities and constraints involve
non-place-specific economic, planning or management factors, which should be listed as bullet points. 
Clarifying scenarios The idea of identifying opportunities and constraints is a little less clear-cut than it sounds, as what is
an opportunity and what is a constraint is dependent on what assumptions are made about the likely funds that can be
made available to finance future development. The basic assumption of urban regeneration, for example, is to turn
constraints on development, in terms of poor quality land and infrastructure and unattractive buildings, into development
opportunities by strategic public investment and incentives to private investors. The important issue here is-to be clear
about the time-scale being considered and the broader development scenario (what type of development will be
economically and socially feasible). It might be useful to list the features of the scenario and to test out the effect of
different scenarios, short term and long term, optimistic and pessimistic, on the nature of an area's development
opportunities and constraints. 
SWOT analysis (Links to an external site.) Another technique that can be used, in place of cr alongside the spatial
mapping of opportunities and constraints, is a SWOT analysis. This is a common management technique that considers
the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, and the opportunities offered and threats faced as a basis for
developing a planning strategy. While a study area may not have the same sense of identity as an organisation,
considering its strengths and weaknesses is a useful exercise. Contrasting opportunities with threats tends to provide a
greater focus on who is being affected and lays greater stress on the competitive economic environment that affects area
development these days. 
To make a perfect SWOT Analysis, explore HERE.  (Links to an external site.)
Area strategy It is useful at this stage in the exercise to think in terms of an area strategy (Figure 1). Where the exercise is
to devise an urban design framework for the area, the purpose may already be set out in the client's brief. In the absence
of such a framework or where the study is concerned with a particular development site or sites, an area strategy is a
useful device within which to develop site development options. In this case it is being used as a scenario and a way in
which the development may be presented to the local authority. 

Urban design objectives What are the objectives that the strategy sets out to achieve? These could be listed as a few
important bullet points. They may include the prime objectives that are given in the client's brief or other established user
requirements, as well as objectives that have emerged from the area appraisal and SWOT analysis. 
Urban design composition The rationale provides a basis on which to develop an urban design option (or alternative
options if time allows), whether these are in the form of an area strategy or specific site development proposals, or both.
The area analysis methodology shows how it can help shape the development of an urban design framework or armature
for the area. The approach is visualized initially as a concept diagram (a 'bubble' diagram) which sketches out the broad
movement and land use development strategy. This may be sufficient for considering specific development interventions
on particular sites. Where the requirement is to formulate an area strategy or urban design framework, the public realm,
built form and land-use elements are worked out in more detail and the concept diagram turned into a strategic
development plan or framework plan for the area. 
Alternatively, the intention may be to create an intervention in the form of a site development proposal, a planning brief for
a development site or a public realm improvement strategy. 
Evaluation 
In sketching out design proposals, urban designers make quick and often unconscious evaluations of the options they are
exploring. Since almost every design involves compromises in certain aspects and few meet all the requirements, it is
usually readily apparent which parts of the design do not 'work'. The designer may decide to adjust the proposal, to
develop an entirely new one, or to go with the current option as representing the best compromise. Evaluation, in practice,
is seldom a formal process in which the design is measured against identified criteria.  An example is provided for a set of
evaluation criteria, which students may find useful in their own urban design tasks. These criteria have been derived from
contemporary work in urban design studies (Punter 1990). 
The issue of how performance is measured is tricky in that there are many qualitative aspects of design that do not have
simple quantitative measures. Sometimes measurable indicators can be devised or identified which, while not measuring
design qualities directly, provide indirect indices of performance. Another useful aid to evaluation is to use the techniques
of urban form and activity analysis listed above and carry out 'before' and 'after' comparisons. These can be carried out
simply by using figure ground plans or through the use of the evaluation criteria.
The most obvious source of evaluation criteria is provided by those design objectives, and urban designers and students
are advised to return to them throughout the course of the design process. Table 1 below is an example of evaluation
criteria as taken from an urban design project proposal. These  are just examples to show that depending on the objectives
and criteria that has been set for an urban design project, its likely outcome or design solution can be objectively
measured. 
Table 1. Evaluative measures of urban design
Quality
Place making Appropriate spaces and activities
Relationship to historical context Dialogue between history and con
Vitality Mixture of uses, public-private inte
Public access Quality of public access, moveme
Scale Relationship of parts to surroundin
Articulation Legibility, hierarchy of routes (whe
Adaptability Ability to respond to change
Stimulation Sensory delight
Safety Surveillance, protection
Community process Social justice, empowerment (whe
Efficiency Cost, re-use of resources, phasing

 
LEARNING SUMMARY
This module has set out a framework within which the urban design process can be located, indicating which methods it is
appropriate to employ at different stages in the process and how they contribute to the development of rationally
considered urban design proposals. It has aimed to provide an insight into how the design works as a cyclic process and
how those who are unfamiliar with this process can find ways of entering this process and managing it. 
The main points can be summarized as follows: 

 There are two contrasting ideas of design: [1] as artistic inspiration; and [2] problem-solving activity, concerned
with the issues of spatial organisation to meet functional needs. 
 A Geddesian approach, involves a rational approach to understanding urban design problems, and involves a
careful reading of the existing urban context.
 Urban design follows a cycle which draws on precedents and existing models, and adapts combines them to
come up with possible design solutions. This process is rational and experimental rather than purely
inspirational.
 Urban design requires a process of simplification and abstraction to enable spatial solutions to be devised.
 The study area appraisal requires two processes: [1] survey and [2] analysis. Urban form and activity analysis
can be used to carry out a rapid area appraisal to develop an area strategy or carry out a context study for
particular local interventions or development proposals.
 The importance of developing a design rational has been stressed, both as a basis for discovering workable
urban design options and in providing supporting argument for them.
 Proposals can be evaluated against defined criteria.